Sheet feeding mechanism



Aug. 22, 1939. A. NOVICK SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Ju'ly 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Abra/mm /Vo wc/r BY M ATTORNEYS Aug.22, 1939. A. NOVICK SHEET FEEDING LiE CI-IANISM Filed July 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Shet 2 1NV ENTOR. wraham A/owc/r- BY ATTORNEY5 Patented Aug. 1939 SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Abraham Novick. Flushing, N. Y., assignor to F. L. Smithe Machine 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 2, 1938, Serial No. 217,142

Claims.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanism and more particularly to mechanism of the kind in which a stackof edgewise supported sheets is caused to be advanced by gravity along 5 a slightly inclined path toward means which act to remove the sheets from the lower end of the stack one by one.

The present invention'may be advantageously practiced in conjunction with mechanism of the in kind shown-and described in my pending application, Serial No. 105,855, filed October 16, 1936, for Envelope machines. The invention is disclosed herein as applied to amachine of the kind disclosed in said pending application, but is not limited to such use, since it is capable of being utilized to advantage in any stack feedingmechanism in which the stack of sheets is supported at a-slight inclination to the horizontal.

In the machine of my said pending applica- 2013011 a stack of envelopes is supported upon inclined rods or corner posts, with the lowermost blank always in position to be acted upon by a suction picker and by other sheet separating and feeding instrumentalities. The suction picker acts upon a margin of the endmost blank to sepa-.

rate the engaged margin from the body of the stack and to assist in delivering it to the bight of a feeding couple. Asthe stack is depleted-by the removal of successive blanks or sheets, it is desirable that all the remaining blanks of the stack be caused to shift downward by gravity along the support toward the ultimate feeding position, so that the blanks of the stack may be maintained in good order and in predetermined attitudes. The attainment of this object may i be substantially facilitated by vibrating the stack support. The vibration of the support is produced sharply enough to cause the frictional grip between the blanks and the supporting means to be momentarily broken, so that the tendency ofthe support to cause disarrangement of the stack through frictional drag upon the support engaging edges of the blanks is obviated.

It is an object of the present invention to pro- Mi-vide mechanism for vibrating the stack supporting means in apparatus of the kind referred to.

It is a further object of the invention to provide vibrating means of simple and light con struction which can be inexpensively installed and so inexpensively operated.

To this latter end, itis a feature of the inv ventien that provision is made of pneumatic vibrating means adapted to be mounted directly upon the supporting means which it is intended to u vibrate.

(Cl. 271-1) v A further feature of novelty resides in the combination with a suction picker for operating upon successive blanks of a stack, of inclined stack supporting means, pneumatic vibrating means for the stack supporting means, a common source of suction supply for the suction picker and for the pneumatic vibrating means, and a common control for causing the source of suction to be alternately connected to, and cut off from, both the suction picker and the pneumatic vibrating means.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter ing means-and thevibrating means associated therewith; I Fig. 3 is a sectional, detail viewof one of the vibrators applied to one of the stack supporting posts; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, illustrated in Fig. 3.

The illustrative machine, with the exceptionof the vibrator mechanism may be of the same construction as the machine disclosed in my pending application Serial No. 105,855 Framecarries a feed be driven bya members I support a shaft 2 which roller 3, and which is adapted to gear 4 fast upon the shaft. Cooperating feeding sectors 5, fast upon a shaft 6, are opposed to the roller 3, and cooperate with the roller-to feed successive envelope blanks across a table 1 and onto a belt conveyor 8. A stack 9 of envelope] blanks is supported upon inclined blank supporting means indicated generally at In, with the lowermost blank disposed adjacent to the 'feed roller 3 and in engagement with an abutment plate |0a supported on stationary cross-bars lflb.

Theinclination of the. stack path is made 3 slight to avoid applying objectionable pressure to the end blank. Excessive pressure would tendto interfere with orderly operation by. causing objectionable frictional contact between the plan view of the parts,

blanks, sufficient to prevent movement of one of them independently of another.

A presser foot ll engages the upper edges of the blanks at the inner end of the stack. A suction picker l2, mounted to oscillate upon a.

pivot I3, is moved toward and from the face of the stack by suitable means (not shown). As the picker moves into engagement with the end blank of the stack, suction is admitted to the picker through a hose H. The picker moves away from the stack to carry the upper margin of the blank into cut-outs .l5 formed in the sectors 5. The cut-out portions of the sectors are formed to act upon the displaced margin of the leading blank to bend it and press it into position to be gripped between the feed roller 3 and the cylindrical surface of the sectors 5. When the sectors have taken control of the blank the suction to the picker I2 is cut off and atmospheric air is admitted, the suction being restored only as the picker again approaches the stack.

The blank supporting means is illustrated herein as comprising a pair of rods or corner posts It, each fixed upon an arm II in any suitable manner, as by means of a screw, not

shown, passed through the post, and threaded into the arm. The head of the inserted screw -does not project beyond the surface of the rod.

Each post is formed at the lower end thereof with an enlargement 16a to assist in preventing the blanks from slipping off the lower end of the post. Each arm I! is mounted upon one of the frame members I, with capacity for bodily and angular adjustment, so that blanks of different sizes can be accommodated. Each arm I1 is formed with a slot 18 and is clamped to the frame member I in various adjusted positions by means of a screw 19, which is passed through the slot and threaded into the frame.

The mechanism as thus far described issubstantially like the mechanism disclosed in my pending application Serial No. 105,855.

Each of the corner posts I6 has a reduced outer or upper end portion 20 upon which a vibrator 2| is mounted. As these vibrators are duplicates of one another, a description of one will sufiice for both. The vibrator 2| comprises an open ended cylinder 22 which is impaled upon the reduced end 20 of a corner post l6, and which is held in place by means of a screw 23 threaded into a. socket formed in the end of the post. A piston 24 is slidably mounted in the cylinder 22 and is normally urged upward against the end portion 20 of the post 6 by means of a coil spring 25. The base of the coil spring 25 is of large enough diameter to fill the bore of the cylinder, but the upper end of the spring is of smaller radius, and is arranged to surround a piston stem 26 at the'lower side of the piston. The lower end of the cylinder 22 is formed with an extension nipple 21, to which a hose 28 is attached.

The hoses 28 are connected through a suitable fitting. such as an inverted Y-shaped fitting 29 to a hose 30. The hoses 30 and H are connectthe chamber, of cylinder 22, the piston 24 is drawn downward against the force of the spring 25 and acts to compress the spring. When atmosphere is admitted to the cylinder chamber the piston is shot upward by the spring 25 and strikes the end of the post 46 a sharp blow, caus ing the post to vibrate. The effect of the blow is to break the frictional grip between the lower edges of the blanks in the stack and the surface of the corner posts It so that the stacked blanks are free to shift down along the corner posts without being substantially retarded by friction.

As shown and described the two vibrators act in unison and in time with the action of the suction picker. It is not necessary that the parts be thus coordinated in their actions, but the arrangement has been found to be an extremely economical one, since it obviates the necessity of adding suction and air control means for the vibrators.

The illustrative. form of blank supporting means is not, of course, necessary to the practicing of the invention. A single continuous solid support, for example, might be employed, in which case a single vibrator would suffice.

The illustrative arrangement has been found to work very satisfactorily in-practice, however, since engagement of the corner posts and the to bear against the stack and keep the blanks..-

. blank stack is limited and each of these corner thereof in order. The vibrating means facilitates the advance of the weight by gravity along the posts l6.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiments of my invention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodiments shown, but what I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for delivering sheets from a sheet stack, in combination, stack supporting means for supporting the sheets edgewise in stack formation, said supporting means being disposed to support the stack at a slight inclination, means for acting upon the lower end of the stack to remove sheets from the stack one by one, and means attached to and carried by the support for vibrating the support to facilitate gravity feeding of, the stack along the support toward the sheet removing means, and

pneumatic means for intermittently operating said vibrating means.

2. In a machine for delivering sheets from a sheet stack, in combination, stack supporting I means for supporting the sheets edgewise in facilitate gravity feeding of the stack along the support toward the sheet removing means, said vibrating means comprising a. cylinder ailixed to the supporting means, a piston in the cylinder, a spring acting on the piston for urging the.

piston in one direction, and means for intermittently producing suction in the cylinder to draw the piston in the opposite direction.

3. In a machine for delivering sheets from a sheet stack, in combination, stack supporting means for supporting sheets edgewise in stack formation, said supporting means being disposed to support the stack at a slight inclination, means for acting upon the lower end of the stack to remove sheets from the stack one by one,

comprising a reciprocating suction picker, pneumatic means forvibrating the supporting means,

. and common control means for alternately conmeeting the picker and the vibrating means to a source of' suction and to the atmosphere.

4. In a machine for delivering sheets from a sheet stack, in combination, stack supporting means for supporting the sheets edgewise in stack formation, said supporting means comprising a plurality of supporting rods disposed in parallel relation and at a slight inclination,

means for acting upon the lower end of the.

stack to remove sheets from thestack one by one, and a plurality of pneumatic vibrators, each attached to and supported by one of the rods.

5. In a machine for delivering sheets from a sheet stack, in combination, stack supporting means 'for supporting the sheets edgewise in stack formation, said supporting means comprising a plurality of supporting rods disposed in parallel relation and at a slight inclination,

means for acting upon the lower end of the stack to remove sheets from the stack one by one, and a plurality of pneumatic vibrators, each attached to and supported by one of the rods, and common pneumatic operating means for the vibrators.

l ABRAHAM NOVICK. 

